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And once in A&E and seen by a doctor, thousands of seriously ill patients are still facing long waits to make it onto a ward.

Monthly data showed 59,803 people waited on trolleys for four hours or more to be admitted into hospital after doctors decided to keep them in in December.

CANCER WAITING TIME TARGET MISSED FOR 35 MONTHS

The NHS's target of diagnosing and treating 85 per cent of cancer patients within 62 days of their GP referral has not been met for the 35th month in a row.

The target was only met for 79 per cent of patients in England in November, meaning one in five had to wait more than two months after being told they may have cancer.

The 62-day target has now been breached for 35 months in a row.

Since it was first breached in January 2014, more than 125,000 people have waited more than two months to begin potentially life-saving therapy.

More than three in five NHS hospital trusts in England (62 per cent) missed the target in November 2018.

Dr Fran Woodard, an executive director at Macmillan Cancer Support said: 'Behind these figures are people waiting anxiously for a diagnosis and treatment.

'If the NHS is to deliver on its ambitious aim of earlier diagnosis and person-centred care for everyone living with cancer, we need a fully costed plan for the workforce to build on the measures in NHS England’s long-term plan.'

Patricia Marquis, director of the Royal College of Nursing in England added: 'Today’s figures show the NHS in England is headed for its worst year in a decade for the number of patients waiting more than two weeks between seeing a GP and their first consultant appointment after an urgent cancer referral.

'The data reveals a 60 per cent increase in patients waiting too long in 2018/19, compared to the same months of the previous year.

'The overall number of patients being referred has increased by 15 per cent year on year, but the sharp increase in breaches of the two-week target is very worrying.

'Tens of thousands of patients and their families are enduring agonising waits, all too aware that a small delay could have a serious impact.'

Some 280 people waited in corridors for at least 12 hours before being taken to an inpatient bed.

This week's statistics reveal the worst week for the NHS so far this winter, and come as 4.15million people are waiting for non-emergency treatment.

This includes many cancer patients – separate figures from today revealed the health service has breached its cancer waiting time target for the 35th month in a row.

Although still affecting thousands of unwell people in England every day, ambulance and A&E waiting times have improved since the same time last year.

But flu, norovirus and colder weather could still throw a spanner in the works of crisis management, experts say.

Dr Becks Fisher, a GP and spokesperson for the Health Foundation said: 'Today’s data shows a busy NHS in England, but one that is coping under pressure so far.

'However, the NHS is not out of the woods yet. It continues to miss a number of key targets – including for cancer and routine consultant appointments.

'We’re still in the early days of winter, and pressures are likely to increase further if cold weather or viral illnesses hit in earnest.

'If these pressures were to hit, this would make it harder for the service to improve performance and start implementing the Long Term plan from April.'

Dr Nick Scriven, president of the Society for Acute Medicine said: 'There is more demand on the NHS but that is something those of us on the frontline have been warning of for some time and it cannot become an acceptable rationale for poor performance.

'My sincere hope is that the so-far mild weather has not lulled our leaders into a false sense of security and that just because things are better than 12 months ago does not make it good, as key targets in preparing for winter were not achieved.'

Other figures for last week showed 17 ambulances were turned away from busy A&E departments, and 93.2 per cent of all hospital beds in England were full.

This remains higher than the NHS's safe operating target of 85 per cent, which was almost hit during the week over Christmas (87.5 per cent).

One hospital – Croydon Health Services in south London – was 100 per cent full for the entirety of week, while 15 were completely full on at least one night.

NHS officials have themselves admitted the service must be prepared for worse to come.

Last week the deputy chief executive of the NHS Confederation, Danny Mortimer said: 'The NHS has delivered significant improvements on last year’s performance and that’s welcome news for patients and the public.

'But the NHS is not yet in the clear as the toughest days often come later in the winter when severe cold weather, flu and norovirus can strike.'

An NHS spokesperson said today: 'Thanks to the hard work of NHS staff, monthly figures published this morning show the health service performed better for A&E services this December than last December, despite successfully caring for 3.9 per cent more people within the current 4 hour target.

'We are now in what can be the most pressured time of year, flu, other winter bugs and adverse weather conditions can all increase, so the situation is being closely monitored.'

HOW HAS THE NHS IN ENGLAND PERFORMED SO FAR THIS WINTER?

WEEK

A&E DIVERSIONS

NATIONAL BED %

HOSPITALS 100% FULL ON AT LEAST ONE NIGHT

HOSPITALS COMPLETELY FULL ALL WEEK

AMBULANCE WAITS 30-60 MINS

AMBULANCE WAITS 60+ MINS

Dec 3-9

25

94.2

14

2

8,736

1,939

Dec 10-16

30

93.4

9

0

7,866

1,491

Dec 17-23

15

91.2

15

0

7,933

1,744

Dec 24-29

17

87.5

16

0

7,887

1,830

Dec 30-6

17

93.2

15

1

9,299

2,986

Of the 4.13million patients waiting to receive treatment at the end of November, 12.7 per cent of them had been waiting for 18 weeks or more.

This falls short of the target to treat 92 per cent of patients within four-and-a-half months and is an increase of 60 per cent on the same month last year.

Labour's Shadow Health Secretary, Jonathan Ashworth said: 'More than half a million people waiting longer than 18 weeks for treatment is a shocking indictment of nine years of Tory cuts, failure to recruit staff and a botched NHS reorganisation.

'Patients are waiting longer in pain and distress, with a real risk that their health could deteriorate further.

'These staggeringly bad performance figures show how shamefully irresponsible it is of Theresa May to refuse to restore NHS constitutional standards – standards that were met under a Labour government. Patients deserve better.'

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NHS crisis: 12,000 patients were left waiting in the back of ambulances outside A&E last week